Oscar Freire and Julian Dean shot at by roadside gunman

Kléber
Kléber Posts: 6,842
edited July 2009 in Pro race
In a bizarre incident today Rabobank's rider Oscar Freire and Garmin's Julian were shot at today by a spectator, luckily for them the roadside idiot was armed with "only" an airgun.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/freire- ... tour-stage

Comments

  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    So does this mean Nicolas Roche was shot too? Earlier this week Stephen Roche was in the Eurosport studio saying that Nicolas had an injury to his leg while sitting in a café in the starting area... initially he thought he had been shot with an air gun but then the ASO released a statement saying an ice machine had exploded.

    You couldn't make this stuff up!
  • donrhummy
    donrhummy Posts: 2,329
    I just read that!! WTF?! My guess is they weren't shooting at them but at the cyclists in general. But...WTF is wrong with people?
  • scwxx77
    scwxx77 Posts: 1,469
    Same thing happened to my uncle last year. Fell off his bike, got back on and rode home to find blood running down his leg. When to hospital and an x-ray showed an air-riffle pellet buried in his leg.
    Winner: PTP Vuelta 2007 :wink:
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,874
    PTP fixing
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Sounds like 'excuses' why they can't beat Cav. :oops: (Joking)


    Pretty sad state of affairs when knobs watching the race do that. And I thought it was bad when that old dude spread thumb tacks all over the road at the Scottish sportive.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    mididoctors wrote:
    PTP fixing

    The shooter must have a bad aim then, because no-one has ever been crazy enough to pick Julian Dean :lol:
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    So, they don't call him Big Julian Dean for nothing :D
  • emadden
    emadden Posts: 2,431
    Apart from my joke in the other thread about pushing lance off his bike on the Ventoux, i honestly believe that there will be some serious haters on the Ventoux out to create trouble... Without any shadow of doubt I think the crowds on the Ventoux will be greater than we have ever seen on the tour - this is due in part to the lance mania, and the fact that Ventoux has been so hyped...

    I fear that guy with the air gun is probably one of many muppets out there looking to create problems

    I also fear that if the shooting incident today was real, we could see some rider strikes or protests on the cards
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  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    Did ETA claim responsibility?
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    emadden wrote:
    Apart from my joke in the other thread about pushing lance off his bike on the Ventoux, i honestly believe that there will be some serious haters on the Ventoux out to create trouble... Without any shadow of doubt I think the crowds on the Ventoux will be greater than we have ever seen on the tour - this is due in part to the lance mania, and the fact that Ventoux has been so hyped...

    I fear that guy with the air gun is probably one of many muppets out there looking to create problems

    I also fear that if the shooting incident today was real, we could see some rider strikes or protests on the cards

    For what? You can only strike or protest when you hope to achieve something. What can the race organisers do to prevent some crazy person attacking a rider? In reality, nothing.

    Cycling is an inherently dangerous sport in that respect. Always has been and always will be. Someone punched Merckx off his bike when they got bored of him winning everything. That was 40 odd years ago, and in reality there is nothing stopping someone doing the same this year. You can't barrier or police the whole 3,500 km route.

    Even sports with a more controlled environment have problems like this... hooliganism in football, idiots running on the pitch in rugby or cricket, Monica Seles getting stabbed. If a crazy person wants to do something really bad, they will usually find a way.
  • emadden
    emadden Posts: 2,431
    afx237vi wrote:
    emadden wrote:
    Apart from my joke in the other thread about pushing lance off his bike on the Ventoux, i honestly believe that there will be some serious haters on the Ventoux out to create trouble... Without any shadow of doubt I think the crowds on the Ventoux will be greater than we have ever seen on the tour - this is due in part to the lance mania, and the fact that Ventoux has been so hyped...

    I fear that guy with the air gun is probably one of many muppets out there looking to create problems

    I also fear that if the shooting incident today was real, we could see some rider strikes or protests on the cards

    For what? You can only strike or protest when you hope to achieve something. What can the race organisers do to prevent some crazy person attacking a rider? In reality, nothing.

    Cycling is an inherently dangerous sport in that respect. Always has been and always will be. Someone punched Merckx off his bike when they got bored of him winning everything. That was 40 odd years ago, and in reality there is nothing stopping someone doing the same this year. You can't barrier or police the whole 3,500 km route.

    Even sports with a more controlled environment have problems like this... hooliganism in football, idiots running on the pitch in rugby or cricket, Monica Seles getting stabbed. If a crazy person wants to do something really bad, they will usually find a way.

    I take your point... I could see them protesting if they find that the mountain top finishes are not barriered enough, like what happened last week in the pyrenees where on one or too stages at the top of the climb the barriers only extended down about 1km from the top.... Granted, with the Ventoux being the penultimate stage, there would be no opportunity...
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  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Lance will lead the protest to stop them riding up Ventoux. As it's the only place he'll lose bucket loads of time to Bertie! :evil:
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,711
    Forget radios.
    Well be having lycra body armour, next.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Jimi_08
    Jimi_08 Posts: 28
    They clarified I think two days or so ago that it was a coffee machine that blew up right by were the riders were standing and some metal from the machine launched (how convenient) into one of the riders legs.
  • emadden
    emadden Posts: 2,431
    Jimi_08 wrote:
    They clarified I think two days or so ago that it was a coffee machine that blew up right by were the riders were standing and some metal from the machine launched (how convenient) into one of the riders legs.

    I agree with Pokerface... Lance could orchestrate a go slow up the Ventoux because of this :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
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  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    Bluddy 'ell.

    Best wishes to both riders, shudder to think of what would have happened if it had been a rifle rather than an air gun.
  • dilemna
    dilemna Posts: 2,187
    Blimey, shocking and frightening :shock: !

    No you couldn't barrier the whole 3,500km but it would certainly make climbing less hazardous if you did only the climbs.

    Seriously Le Tour should consider having a few more police on motorbikes with arms at the ready to act as some sort of deterrent. Anyone firing on or threatening the riders would then be met with lethal force. There was probably more security for the recent Cons who cycled Le Tour.
    Life is like a roll of toilet paper; long and useful, but always ends at the wrong moment. Anon.
    Think how stupid the average person is.......
    half of them are even more stupid than you first thought.
  • jackhammer111 - banned
    jackhammer111 - banned Posts: 245
    Phil LIgget said they arrested a couple of kids with an air rifle.
  • nick hanson
    nick hanson Posts: 1,655
    dilemna wrote:
    Blimey, shocking and frightening :shock: !

    No you couldn't barrier the whole 3,500km but it would certainly make climbing less hazardous if you did only the climbs.

    Seriously Le Tour should consider having a few more police on motorbikes with arms at the ready to act as some sort of deterrent. Anyone firing on or threatening the riders would then be met with lethal force. There was probably more security for the recent Cons who cycled Le Tour.
    Have you actually seem the length of these climbs.The logistics of barriering 'only' the last Kilo or so must be frightening,never mind some of the climbs being well over 20 k's in length
    Regarding those cons,I should hope there was more security for them,wouldn't you?,Love him or hate him,Lance aint going to abscond,rob a bank & do in your old mum,is he? :shock:
    so many cols,so little time!
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,812
    dilemna wrote:
    Blimey, shocking and frightening :shock: !

    No you couldn't barrier the whole 3,500km but it would certainly make climbing less hazardous if you did only the climbs.

    Seriously Le Tour should consider having a few more police on motorbikes with arms at the ready to act as some sort of deterrent. Anyone firing on or threatening the riders would then be met with lethal force. There was probably more security for the recent Cons who cycled Le Tour.

    Yup, some male chicken's out there with an air rifle, let's kill 'em.

    Wasn't it on the descent too? Like afx said, if someone wants to cause trouble, they will find a way. There's not a lot to stop me and a mate going along on Tuesday with a big rope and standing either side of the road,
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    jackhammer111 wrote:
    Phil LIgget said they arrested a couple of kids with an air rifle.
    I don't think there have been arrests yet.

    As I understand it there are witness accounts from close to the scene, including one from a rider, which suggest two kids were seen hiding behind a tree. The gun used was a simple airgun that is meant to fire plastic pellets, not a toy shop item but almost. The kids replaced the plastic pellets with metal. The view is that these were bored teenagers rather than psychopaths.

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